Sunday, August 7, 2011

We Made It!

Well, after a reallyyyy long flight with a reallyyy unhappy pup, we made it to Amsterdam! Henry made quite the scene and caused us quite a bit of embarrassment for the first five hours of the flight, but luckily after that he finally decided to pass out!

Once we arrived and checked into our hotel we unpacked for a bit and immediately set out on foot to find some lunch and fight the jet lag. We walked over to one of our favorite areas, the Jordaan. Poor Henry seems to be struggling quite a bit and is lashing out... He hurls himself at bikes, mopeds, pigeons, children... Sounds fun, right? Hopefully he gets over this soon as it made our walk particularly unpleasant. Can you imagine a dog that doesn't like bikes living in Amsterdam? Pretty comical, actually!

It's so strange living in a city where I don't know my way, have no idea what restaurants are good, what neighborhoods to avoid, etc etc. But this is all part of the adventure - and a huge part of the reason we decided to leave Portland for a few years. I wanted to step out of my comfort zone, and boy have I ever! I have so much to learn about Amsterdam and Europe in general!

The second day in Amsterdam we woke up early and took Henry for a walk. We knew there wouldn't be many people (read: pigeons, bikes, kids and scooters) out in the morning - so we thought it would be the perfect time to take Henry for a nice walk over to Vondel Park. Back in Portland, we loved taking early morning walks before the city was awake. I loved how peaceful and quiet it was. Here in Amsterdam, I found that the quiet felt eerie. I'm sure that will change, it just felt uncomfortable, like something wasn't right. I look forward to appreciating the peace of the morning hours in Amsterdam someday (hopefully soon).

Now our second day in Amsterdam is over and we're settling in and hoping our six hour nap earlier doesn't stop us from sleeping through the night... Tomorrow is a big day for us. Any guesses what it is? More updates coming soon. As well as some catching up from the weeks leading up to our move. Thanks again for sticking with me as my blogging was sporadic!

yay you made it! i love seeing amsterdam through your eyes...you capture it beautifully! make sure to check out "de pijp" neighbourhood; it is super trendy and has all the best restaurants/bars in the city!

So exciting! I love Amsterdam, you three are going to have an amazing time. I know what you mean, though, about living in a new place. I just moved from Sweden to New York, and although I've been here lots and lots of times before, now everything feels so foreign. But you're right, that's part of the adventure!Good luck to you, can't wait to read more!

So glad you guys made it safely, and I am so jealous. These pictures make me miss Amsterdam so much. Definitely my favorite city...aside from Portland, lol. Also, where did you get those cute grey/tan sandals?

wow, liz. it looks so beautiful. and you're already looking quite european! :) very pretty. i had a little pang of jealousy reading this post. y'all are going to have such an adventure living abroad!! looking forward to reading more about it.

So glad you made it safely Liz! Henry certainly is a ham isn't he?! (adorable) Although I'm stuck studying for a licensure exam all weekend I'm glad to have had the opportunity to live vicariously through your photos! Gorgeous.

Thanks for sharing! Looking forward to seeing more of the adventure =)

Welcome to NL! I'm sure it won't be long until you are finding your fave places to eat drink and shop and enjoying early mornings before Amsterdam gets crazy busy. I live in EIndhoven, further south in NL but not for too long as we'll probably be moving to Portland at the end of the year! How funny is that! Enjoy.

Wishing Henry the best adjustment and european adventure!!! After several moves...I come to grips with the fact that until familiar that eerrie-ness of unfamiliarity is quite enchanting. Odd, but true.

What an amazing city to live in as newlyweds!! I hope you soak up all it has to offer : ) I've been catching up on your blog + adventures and just love it all! I'm definitely jealous about your move abroad as it is a dream of mine too, and I appreciate you sharing the good and bad, ups and downs! xoxoxo

I am really curious how you got your dog into Europe in the cabin?? We've actually talked about living in Europe (London, perhaps) for a few years but honestly had to put the kibosh on the plans as everything I've read said the dog has to enter the EU via cargo. Our dog would never make it in cargo. Would love more info from you on how you did it!